Daretti vs Mazirek vs Etali vs Alesha EDH / CMDR game play for Magic: The Gathering

Deck Strategies

• 

  Daretti, Scrap Savant

  Artifact value and recursion focused on sacrificing artifacts for advantage and disrupting opponents through artifact destruction and recursion chains.

• 

  Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

  Sacrifice tribal with token generation and experience counters, leveraging death triggers to gain incremental advantage and board presence.

• 

  Etali, Primal Storm

  Aggressive top-deck based combat damage with repeated spell casting to generate card advantage and control the board through high-impact creature attacks.

• 

  Alesha, Who Smiles at Death

  Recurring aggressive creatures from the graveyard with combat damage triggers, combined with equipment and sacrifice synergies to maintain board presence and pressure.

Gameplay Insights

• 1

  Kevin’s Ruination cast effectively delayed Arman and Mark by destroying nonbasic lands, shifting board control in Etali’s favor.

• 2

  Arman repeatedly sacrificed and reanimated creatures like Viscera Seer to trigger damage and maintain aggressive board presence through Alesha’s ability.

• 3

  Daretti’s player used Mirage Mirror to copy Etali, enabling additional combat attacks and leveraging Mind Slaver alongside artifact synergies for card advantage and disruption.

• 4

  Kevin used Etali’s triggered ability along with spells like Faithless Looting and reiterate to maximize card draw and repeated combat damage phases.

• 5

  Mark utilized Pitiless Plunderer and treasure tokens to accelerate mana and gain experience counters, fueling his sacrifice-based strategy.

• 6

  Multiple instances of tactical sacrifice in response to board wipes and artifact destruction spells like Vandalblast and Shattering Spree demonstrated players’ adaptation to shifting board states.

Notable Cards

• 

  Ruination

• 

  Vandalblast

• 

  Faithless Looting

• 

  Mirage Mirror

• 

  Goblin Bombardment

• 

  Pitiless Plunderer

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  Echoing Decay

• 

  Grim Monolith

• 

  Chromatic Lantern

• 

  Solemn Simulacrum

Summary

The game began with all four players developing their mana bases and setting up early board presence. Kevin, playing Etali, Primal Storm, leveraged land ramp and card draw spells like Faithless Looting and repeated top-decking with Etali's ability to build a strong board. Arman on Alesha, Who Smiles at Death, focused on recurring creatures through her commander ability, consistently sacrificing and reanimating key creatures like Viscera Seer and utilizing equipment such as Swiftfoot Boots to maintain pressure. Mark, piloting Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, generated value from sacrificing creatures and producing tokens, while Daretti, Scrap Savant, controlled artifacts and utilized recursion and disruption to maintain a resilient board state. A pivotal moment occurred when Kevin cast Ruination, wiping many nonbasic lands and neutering Arman's and Mark's mana bases temporarily, shifting the tempo significantly in Etali’s favor. The board state saw repeated combat damage exchanges, with Alesha's ability to bring back creatures enabling aggressive attacks and chump defense, while Mazirek continued to amass experience counters and treasures to fuel his plays. Daretti's player cleverly used Mirage Mirror to copy Etali, enabling additional top-deck attacks and triggered powerful plays like Mind Slaver and Goblin Rune Blaster to disrupt opponents and control the battlefield. The game was marked by tactical sacrifices, artifact destruction, and chain reactions of spells, culminating in Etali’s explosive combat phases and Daretti’s artifact synergies applying constant pressure.